This invention relates to recycling, and, in particular, to the treatment of multi-ply, heterogeneous packaging for recycling.
Most packaging, especially that involved in the flexible packaging, is made up of a plurality of layers of a variety of plastic films, adhesives, inks and papers. These layers are firmly adhered together by adhesives or the inherent bonding action of the polymers themselves. This packaging creates a large amount of waste which must be disposed of or recycled. However, there is not practical method of disposing of or recycling this heterogeneous, multi-ply packaging material after use.
Dumping the waste packaging material in landfills is impracticable. Paper waste degrades very slowly and takes up a significant amount of landfill space. Further, the land available for waste disposal is quickly disappearing. Therefor, burying such waste does not significantly contribute to the elimination of these multi-ply packaging products and is thus not practical. Burning is also impractical. It is expensive and not all of the toxic or near toxic emissions can be captured or scrubbed out of the resulting fumes. This is especially true of packaging materials composed of a variety of different plastic and paper substrates.
There is also no known practical method the separate the plies of heterogeneous, multi-ply packaging material to recycle the various components thereof.
These packaging materials are create a disposal problem not only by consumers, but by manufacturers as well. In the manufacturer's process, upwards to 10% of the packaging material is wasted in the production of the packaging. Even if the consumer use is written off, there are literally millions of pounds of waste that could be captured at the manufacturer's level, if a practical method for recycling was available.